More conference awards: Kristal honored as men’s soccer Wildcats ready for final road trip
Kristal honored as men’s soccer Wildcats ready for final road trip
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Northern Michigan University senior goalkeeper Asaf Kristal boots the away from the Wildcats' net during a past game. (Photo courtesy NMU)
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference gave one of its weekly men's soccer awards to a Northern Michigan University player for the third time in four weeks a few days ago.
This week, it is captain and senior goalkeeper Asaf Kristal being named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Twice in the previous three weeks, the other senior captain, forward Luca Rosen, earned GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Kristal, a native of Tel Aviv, Israel, couldn't have done any better in the past week than the two shutouts he posted in a 2-0 win over Purdue Northwest and 1-0 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside, both at home.
Add in a Sept. 27 4-0 triumph at St. Cloud State, and Kristal has three consecutive shutouts and a total of more than 290 minutes of shutout soccer altogether. He also broke the NMU career shutouts record of nine by Alex Weaver from 2020-23 with his 10th and 11th ones.
He made three saves on Friday, then five saves on Sunday, seeing a total of 31 total shot attempts coming his way over the past two games.
"Well-deserved award for our other captain," Northern head coach Alex Fatovic said in an NMU Sports Information news release announcing the award. He was alluding to Rosen having won the other weekly awards.
"Just when we needed it, we've gotten three huge shutouts in a row, due in massive part to the steady play of Asaf. Great job, Asaf!"
His teammates behind him -- or technically in this sport, in front of him -- will want to keep supporting him while scoring often as they embark on their final road trip of the regular season.
The Wildcats are in first place in the league, three points up on second-place Roosevelt and Saginaw Valley State at the exact midpoint of the conference schedule.
At 7-2-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the GLIAC, NMU has 14 points compared to 11 points for the second-place teams' 3-1-2 marks.
This week's games are at fifth-place Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin, at noon EDT Friday and at fourth-place Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Indiana, at 3 p.m. EDT Sunday.
Northern is ranked nationally at No. 21 in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll, a week after they received votes but didn't crack the top 25.
The USC also rated the Wildcats second in the Midwest Region, the same place they're ranked in the Midwest by the NCAA Power Index. No. 1 in the Midwest by the USC is Drury (8-2-1) of Missouri and the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
The next highest ranked GLIAC team in the Midwest by the USC poll is SVSU at No. 5, with Roosevelt No. 8.
Fatovic was certainly pleased with his team's shutout weekend at home.
"It was a good weekend for everybody," he said. "Got the six-point weekend, so, fantastic performance. I think from start to finish all weekend it was tough. Both teams were going to be tough, and I think in terms of a full team effort, that's what we got. So, yeah, pleased with the weekend."
Both of this week's road games will be available to stream through FloCollege, or visit the Northern athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men's soccer schedule for links to live video, live statistics and preview.
Parkside is 4-6-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the GLIAC, while Purdue NW is one point behind SVSU and Roosevelt at 6-3-2 overall and 3-3-1 in the league.
Preparation will be the same any other road trip, according to the coach.
"It's the same as it's always been, it's one day at a time for us," Fatovic said. "I know it's cliche, but it's really what we subscribe to. So for us, Tuesday is recovery day, (practice) Wednesday, and we get back on a bus on Thursday.
"They're playing for each other, so there's not much I have to do. I look at myself as more of a shepherd or a guide; just keep them on track, and they'll be fine.
"They're flying.... They're playing as hard as they possibly can. So, we're not ready to talk about stats or standings or placement. We're just talking about Parkside on Friday."
For offense last week, Rosen scored in the 81st minute for the only goal in the Wildcats' most recent game that was against Parkside -- yes, the team they're playing again Friday.
He capitalized on NMU's first penalty kick of the season.
In the previous game vs. Purdue NW -- yes, the other team Northern is playing this weekend -- Sam Pilgrim scored just 31 seconds after the teams resumed play following the halftime break, the Wildcats adding another about 5 1/2 minutes later from Marcos Gallardo Rozano.
Parkside defeated Purdue NW 3-0 in Kenosha on Wednesday, getting the Rangers out of a tie for the bottom of the league they had shared with Davenport and St. Cloud State.
After this weekend, Northern returns home for to start that final regular-season homestand with St. Cloud State at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, at the NMU Soccer Field. There'll also be a game a couple days later vs. Roosevelt at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Story contents based on a pair of Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the honor and previewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.